Just above the textarea that you use to enter the message text on the "Compose New Mail page" there is usually a button bar with buttons to add text formatting like Bold and Italic.
That toolbar may also have a button to turn a text link into a clickable hyperlink (look for a chain like button).
You can select the text and click that button to turn the link into a clickable hyperlink.
If you can't find the button then hover them all to check the tooltip of each (e.g. Insert hyperlink).

Your answer is correct. Thank you. It took a bit of web research to find the answer but the information is out there. Again, thank you very much for your accurate and thoughtful post.

You're welcome